Ruby Facets
by Yuhi Sakura
Summary: For my best friend on her special day. Disclaimer: I own nothing, but Haruno Lynn is the property of my best friend, ScarletRoseProdigy.
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter One: Dark Magic**_

Maybe it was all the years of abuse at the hands of Orochimaru and Kabuto or the nights she spent in passionate embrace with Itachi and Deidara, but Lynn was completely and utterly in love with the darkness.

It had such a duality to it: it was so straight forward, as clear cut as black and white, and as elaborate as the shadows in the hearts of men. It was as innocent as the dreams of children in their bed and as cruelly sadistic as the ebony cloak she relied on during her solitary excursions into enemy lands…it was also the places she hid her heart, her soul, even from the ones who loved her, and the places that had bred the psychological wounds that continued to haunt her.

When she was alone in that bed, she could feel Orochimaru's cold breath on the back of her neck _and_ Itachi's warm lips on hers. She could remember Kabuto's icy gaze as he stared at her exposed back and Deidara's tender touch as they basked in each others' presence.

And she was acutely aware that all those tangled feelings had finally found a place to coexist in the Black Dark Magician Girl: she was as powerful as her master, the Dark Mage himself, but with all the flirty lightness of the one in Yami's deck. It was everything that she was turned in on itself and allowed to flow freely at the same time.

When her fingertips brushed the top of that card, she could literally feel it's power surge through her; that card gave her place to confide the darkness of her heart and to unleash all of the rage, all of the hurt and trauma those years had left behind. When she dueled with that card, she didn't need to hide behind the façade of strength she was so used to putting up.

That card had filled a void that no one else could. It wasn't the romantic love she shared with Seto Kaiba or the motherly love she had for Mokuba or even the blood bond she had with her sister that had been tempered in battle. The love she shared with that card was so pure, so deep, that it sometimes scared her. She worried she might drown in the depth of power and the width of expanse they shared between them.

She _felt _the soul of that card, pulsing in Yami's deck, even before she ever set eyes on it…but when she did…she just _knew_…knew from the bottom of her heart and the intelligent intensity of her mind that they were _meant_ to be together, to fight together.

It wasn't until years later, of course, that she understood why: in the same way the Magician's Valkyria was the evolution of Sakura's heart and desires and the burning intensity of her soul, the Black Dark Magician Girl was hers. She was the potential for healing that Lynn had clung to all along, and in that want, hope itself had been created…

Staring at the card in her hands, Lynn felt such awe, such respect, for who she was…who she had _been_. The Black Dark Magician Girl was the promise of the future and the reconciliation of the past…a reminder to remember those dark days but to _choose_ to keep walking towards the light.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two: Tension, Part One**_

She smiled even as his lips turned down, because she knew that the balance they had was delicate at best. To say she did it for Sakura was a lie; her sister was acutely aware of the subtle undercurrent of tension. She was also acutely aware, the same way Lynn was, that there was no one else but the red-head to blame for it.

Her decision to leave the Mutou household the first time, for their at the time sworn enemy, nonetheless, had been, to put it gently, a bad one. Whether she had been unable or simply unwilling to explain the situation to them had never been fully expanded upon it and, honestly, didn't matter.

"Lynn." His voice was rather cold despite the greeting.

"Hey, Yami." She smiled at him, despite her discomfort, "How are you guys? Yugi and Solomon doing well?"

He nodded obligatorily, "They're fine."

"And you?" She continued, opening a magazine and flipping through it.

"Fine." He responded, busying himself by cleaning up the racks of cards.

"Did you want Sakura and I to bring dinner back or something?" She asked.

"We'll order in, thanks." He replied, casting his eyes to the top of the stairs where Sakura had appeared.

She wore a light blue tank top over a pair of blue jeans. Her hair, a series of messy pink spikes, was pulled back into a fan at the base of her neck. Her make-up was light, natural…the exact opposite of Lynn.

The red-head wore a lace-up strapless corset in purple with a sheer black lace overlay. The edge of it skimmed the top of her dark-wash denim jeans. The fabric was dotted with purple rhinestones and silvery swirls of glitter. Her hair cascaded over her shoulders in loose curls. Her eyes were heavily rimmed with black liner and purple shadow and her lips were a shade comparable to her hair.

"Hey!" She smiled, pulling her sunglasses off and pushing them on top of her head, "Ready to go?"

Her sister nodded, kissed her lover on the cheek, and happily followed after her. And, as she walked through the door, she shot Yami one more glance and thought she saw the faintest flicker of trust and happiness in his eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Three: Passions**_

Lynn and Seto shared a lot of things, but _passion_ was certainly the most prevalent. It wasn't even the kind of hot, kinky, Kami-I-have-to-have-you_-now _, tearing up the sheetssort of sexual passion that most people thought of when they saw them walking down the street together. Not, of course, because it wasn't there, but you could only base so much of a relationship off of, albeit _amazing_, bedroom chemistry. There just had to be more to it, and there was.

He had the kind of passion for battle that she had only ever seen in shinobi. There was nothing in the world more thrilling to him than standing across from his enemy, even if was one as benign as Yami, and trying to tear apart their strategy, or produce the perfect defense or rally a brilliant counteroffensive. And, Kami, his temperament…

He had a sort of hot-bloodedness that was the perfect complement to her fiery nature. When the two of them were together, it was the kind of positive feedback response that kept them there. They could _hate_ each other in that moment and it wouldn't matter: they were drawn to each other in such an intensely primal, searing way that not even death had kept them apart. He had the drive to challenge her, to force her to keep up with him, even when he lacked the physicality of male shinobi. He pushed her mind to the limit and demanded more of her, and she, determined not to fall behind him, was more than willing to give it.

He put her in the perfect place: she could indulge her instinct to battle without harming anyone, and he could luxuriate in his dominance because he knew that she gave it to him freely. At any minute, she could decide that he was officially the beta. It kept things lively, to say the least.

Quite simply, they argued…a lot; and, as with most things they did, they argued passionately. Sometimes, just for the sake of arguing. He liked to be difficult, and she liked to remind him who he was dealing with. Of course, more than not, the arguing led somewhere: one time a fight over the duel system had led to a total make-over…which had brought its own problems…and more arguing…

And, although _insane_ sexual energy wasn't _all_ of the shared passion they had, it was certainly the most fun aspect…her skin tingled even just thinking about how often those arguments escalated into nights spent in the tangle of sweat and sheets and the high cresting sensation of having him on top of her, _inside_ of her…

Blushing, Lynn quickly turned away from Mokuba under the guise of reaching for her own iced tea. Deep down inside, though, she knew that as soon as the younger Kaiba was tucked away in his bed and she finally managed to wrangle Seto away from his laptop that all they would be arguing over was who was on top…


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter Four: Reflection**_

"What do you see when you look in the mirror?" Sakura had once asked, her eyes vacant and far away as she looked out onto the horizon.

"What do you mean?" Lynn had replied, knowing full well what implications her statement carried.

As she hoped she would, Sakura backed away from the topic, turned her eyes back to her teacup, "Nevermind."

But what she had said…it was a lie…a lie to herself and her sister. Because she was afraid…the mirror, that reflection, it all held so much…

When she looked into the reflective pane of glass, sometimes she saw a happy woman with a bright future, a happy family, and a kind of content peace she never thought she would find. She saw the duelist, Kaiba Haruno Lynn, the most highly ranked female duelist in the world, a doting mother and a loving wife. But sometimes she saw a woman who looked broken…the Haruno Lynn who had suffered in silence for years until all the pain had finally turned in on itself…until she finally started lying to herself, trying to _prove_, that despite it all, despite the rape and the torture and the daily clawing terror, that she was at peace, even _happy_, in the hell that Oto had been for her. And, sometimes, even more than that…

She could see Omorose, the dutiful High Priestess of Isis, who had carried out her rituals with the pride and the respect the dead deserved…and the Omorose who had betrayed all of that, who had played a part, no matter how small, in the resurrection of Zorc Necrophades and the death of Atem and her sister…she saw the jealously that had destroyed her and nearly destroyed their world. She saw the hateful woman who had been willing to let a girl suffer and die if _only_ it meant that Seto was hers and hers alone…

And even further than that…she could see incarnations that she hadn't even started to remember…the murky shadows of countless lives lived and died and with nothing more than a passing shadow of memory to prove it. She saw lives that could have been happy, honorable, even, and she saw the dark passing of terror and pain in others. And sometimes she had to turn away and _not_ remember because it all hurt so badly…

For all those bad days, she had the days where her world was nothing but sunshine and love and peace. And, for all those years of suffering and the painful realizations she knew were always right around the corner, those days were more precious than life to her. She had wanted that for so long and it was only after she had convinced herself that they were never happen that they dropped into her lap.

She was eternally grateful to the higher powers she had once stopped believing in. But life wasn't without pain, and every day was a bit like stretching a sore muscle. She had to learn how to love again, how to trust and how not to push everyone away. She had to learn to find her conviction and to convince herself that taking another step forward, no matter how small, was worth it.

It was easier now, she told herself, that she was surrounded by love instead of a constant struggle. It was easier to trip and not fall; and, if she did, she knew that there were people around her who loved her enough to stop and reach down and pull her up.

The future, of course, still scared her. She knew now that death wouldn't be the end and that, past that bright void, there would be another life, another heartache…but also another love and another set of memories, good and bad, to tuck away.

It was a scary thought, because of how big it all was and how small she felt, but it was comforting, too, to know the end wasn't really the end.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter Five: Tease**_

Sakura smirked to herself as she danced to the left of Lynn's punch. Coming down on the heel of her hand, she rocked forward on her palm and flipped her legs over. Landing easily on the balls of her feet, she ducked under her sister's roundhouse.

"Spill it, Sakura," The elder Haruno said playfully, seeing the lilt of her sister's lips, "I _know_ that you and Yami must tear up a few sheets."

"And what exactly do you want me to say?" She asked as she spun hard on her heel to aim her left leg at the red-head's chest.

"_All_ the details." Lynn replied as she caught her sister's ankle and reversed her. Predictably, Sakura managed to flow with the impetus and land beautifully.

"Well," The pink-haired kunoichi said as she executed an impressive back flip away from her sister's high kick, "I got home last night around midnight and he had dinner ready."

Lynn rolled her eyes, "Let me guess: he prepared a wonderful dinner and you two stared sickeningly across the table at each other, and then you talked about how much you loved each other and curled up and fell asleep in each other's arms. How G-rated can you get, Sakura?"

The younger Haruno smirked, "Well, I'd be lying if I said we made it to dessert…"

The red-head flung a set of throwing stars at her and was unsurprised by the metallic creak of her sister's kunai batting them out of the air and even less surprised by the return volley of senbon.

"Oh, _really_ now?" She smirked as Sakura spun away from Lynn's uppercut.

"I got home and, well," Sakura grunted under her breath, the force of the kick she caught in her cross guard winding her, "I wasn't even through the door before he was on top of me."

Expectedly, as good form dictated, Lynn broke away to recover some ground, "You can't stop there."

Sakura blushed, but was determined not to get one upped by her sister, "He threw me across the kitchen table and that didn't last long…"

"You're _joking_ right? I never took Yami to be an early bird," She winked, "If you catch my drift."

"In this case, it wound up being me who needed the…" She hesitated for a moment, trying to find the words, "Change of scenery?"

Lynn gave a choking kind of cough-the result of having attempted to laugh at the same time she was trying to avoid a kick and managing neither entirely successfully, "_Sakura!_"

"You asked!" The pinkette responded, blushing furiously.

"I'm actually rather proud," Lynn said as she threw another punch.

"And why is that?" Sakura brought her hand up, catching her sister's wrist and levering it away.

"You're not a woman until you've broken in the kitchen table." The red-head responded.

"_Lynn!_" Sakura shrieked, attempting to smack her on the shoulder and failing miserably.

Still chuckling and on the verge of hysterical laughter, the older Haruno leapt back a good six feet and corrected her stance. "I would know; I _am_ your big sister."

Sakura gave an evil smile, "Than how did I wind up with the better deal?"

"And what are you talking about?" Lynn smirked as she tossed a kunai at her.

Easily dodging the projectile, Sakura responded nonchalantly. "If Yami is better at everything than Seto is, why should sex be any different?"

Lynn froze, her face paling, then turning somewhat pink, and then finally erupting into a red that rivaled the shade of her hair, "_SAKURA!_"

The younger Haruno shrugged, "Just saying."

"Oh, now you're going to get it!" Lynn bantered back as she leveled another kunai at her.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter Six: Jewel Tone**_

She was a collection of jewel tones and vibrancy; a kind of gem anthology all her own. And, for Seto Kaiba, she was the ultimate collectible. He was used to the finer things in life, and she certainly constituted a catch, even by his impossibly high standards. And sometimes he mused on it to himself when his work inevitably became dull, or in the quiet moments between duels and hostile company takeovers. He liked to imagine her as an assortment of precious stones neatly laid out, where in the comfort of his mind he could pick each one up, examine it, and move on.

The box, of course, always started with ruby…her hair. By far the most obvious of her features, it was also by far one of the more boring ones. It was one of the ones he had to 'share' with the world. It was pretty, certainly, and especially when the moonlight hit it just right. But any simpleton on the street could see that. It was really no different than some random drunk ogling her breasts. There was hardly anything to it. Having functioning eyes was the only condition. At the very least _her_ eyes proved to be somewhat more interesting.

Of course, anyone could see that they were a clear, bright shade of hazel that bordered on amber. Really, there was very little to seeing a color, having an opinion of it, and moving on. What the random tourist on the street didn't see, however, was the way they changed with her emotions. Even in the darkness of their bedroom, her eyes would glow with passion. And no matter how sunny it was outside, if she was sad, those orbs just swallowed the light. That feature, though, was minor. What he really wanted to look at was what people couldn't see.

Like the obsidian of her soul. He imagined at one point that her heart had been a pristine, happy place. Rather like a good diamond. But after all the abuse and hardship, it was a much darker shade. Trial and error had worn it smooth, eliminated the roughness, and now it sparkled with dark intensity. It had the fine edge of a blade and the liquid luxury of silk. She used it like a tool, to drive her, to make her point, to keep others going. And he loved to explore the strange complexity of her memories.

Her mind was a complicated, layered place. What he held in the hand of his mind's eyes was a black opal. If he turned it one way, it shone with a night-sky blue that had an innocent light to it. And if he turned it the other way he could see the red of her painful life shimmer beneath the veil of black. Others, though, were less obvious…there were murky places that he couldn't quite see into. It was those that fascinated him most.

Some, he knew, she would tell him when the time and the feeling was right. Others he would stumble across without meaning to. Some she would reveal without thinking about it. But the ones he wanted most were the ones he fettered out. The ones he convinced her to give up, the ones that he could credit himself for finding. Because, after all, Seto Kaiba loved the game of it all.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter Seven: Tensions, Part Two**_

She was mad, and Lynn couldn't blame her…Hell, if she had been in her shoes, she would have been furious…she would have been seeing red and aching for the feel of blood on her hands and the perfume of iron in the air.

"You…knew…?" Sakura asked haltingly, rage making her hesitant.

She nodded her head.

"And…you watched…and did nothing?"

Lynn thought of a hundred things to say in the span of that instant that passed between them. She could have told her about the threats Orochimaru had made against her, or the helpless of watching and knowing she was being watched, or how she was suddenly caught in a sickening flashback of Itachi as she watched his brother, or…

"Lynn," Her sister's voice was dangerous, "Answer me."

The red-head nodded.

She waited for the inevitable pulse of chakra and the fist she knew she deserved and the pain she almost wanted to feel. She wanted to be punished for what she had done, because of how fucked up it all was. But Sakura just sat there, her eyes fixed with a mean glare on the hands she had curled in her lap.

"I don't…understand…" She said finally.

To be honest, Lynn didn't, either. Looking in the mirror of her mind, she couldn't even begin to fathom why she had allowed her sister to suffer so much. Granted, she hadn't know how reaching the implications of her inaction would be, but that was hardly an explanation and nothing close to a good excuse.

"I don't know why I didn't stop him, Saki…" She sighed, "I ask myself every day…"

Sakura swallowed hard, fisted her hands a bit tighter. Lynn knew that from the first day her sister realized she was alive that there would be questions after the ecstatic joy had passed. Questions she didn't have answers to.

"I just…I don't know," She repeated.

She met her sister's gaze and saw all the things she knew she would: anger, sorrow, mourning, the painful 'what-ifs' she knew she was asking herself, and something that bordered dangerously close on hate. Lynn, for the first time in her life, didn't know what _she_ was feeling…

She couldn't justify, even to herself, why she had left Sakura to suffer under the weight of a decision that wasn't even her own. And Lynn couldn't very well even tell herself that she did it to protect her younger sister. Because she knew she hadn't…even if that was what she told Sakura…

She had done it because she was afraid…afraid of Orochimaru's wrath. She knew that if he was merciful, he would simply kill her…but it wasn't death she was afraid of…

It was pain.

"I was…scared, Sakura." She finally admitted, "And I know that doesn't change what I did…"

"It sure as hell doesn't!" Her younger sister suddenly exploded.

Her chakra flared, and she wrenched her hands into fists and glared at Lynn with all the venom she could muster.

"I…" She started to say something and quickly cut herself off with an abbreviated shake of her head. "I'm leaving."

She left the room, her angry footsteps echoing off of the thin walls and down the stairs.

It took all of Lynn's willpower to stay where she was. She knew Sakura wanted to be left alone, and that chasing her would only push her away. So she did just that…stayed where she was, gripping the edge of her seat so tightly the wood threatened to splinter.

She took a deep breath, pushed her tears away…she had no right to cry when she had brought the pain and the suffering on herself. What she wouldn't give, she told herself, to take all of her sister's pain away…to do it all over again…

88888888888888888888888

Sakura hated herself; truly hated everything she was and had been and was going to be. Really…did all of her hard work even matter? Fate was going to play her fucked up games no matter what. If Sakura turned right…well, eventually Fate or Destiny would spin her back to the left, and jerk her around, and squeeze her heart until she wanted nothing more than to die…All over again…again and again and again into infinity.

She even wanted to hate Lynn…but…she just couldn't…

Really, she thought to herself, it wouldn't have changed anything. Orochimaru would have had Sasuke eventually, because eventually he would have gone to him anyway…

There was no denying how messed up the situation was, or how angry she was or anything of the feelings that were racing through her. She did have the sudden thought, though, that there was one thing that Fate couldn't control…and that was whether or not she forgave her sister…

Her poor, fucked up, scarred, scared, small, hurting sister…who had given up everything for her from day one and still hadn't learned that it was okay to take care of herself…

Such was the way of the shinobi…the way of blood and loss and stupid self-sacrifice…

She couldn't blame Lynn anymore than the world that had made her into what she was…so much of what had happened to Lynn, and to herself, was so far outside of their control and so far gone from anything near normal, even by the odd and dangerous standards of the shinobi world.

She stopped finally, her hand on the doorknob of her home…she could feel her lover inside, going about his business, feel his expectation of her arrival…

And she just couldn't go through the door…

She turned on her heel, breaking into a run as she frantically dialed a number she knew by heart. The phone hadn't even rung twice before she heard Lynn's voice on the other line and before she could say anything, Sakura screamed high into the rainy sky and at whatever power, be it Fate or Kami or a pantheon of gods, "I forgive you, Lynn!"


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter Eight: Rose**_

She was his rose, he thought as he watched her from a distance. Behind them, the sun was sinking low into the horizon of the sea and painting the sky a brilliant orange. The gently rippling water was cresting against the sandbar of the beach. Etched into the sand at her feet was her shadow, elongated by the sharp angle of the sun.

She was really quite beautiful standing there in the warm wash of light that made her hair shine like it was twined gold filament. It sparkled on her skin and in her eyes…made her look more angel than human.

And, oh…when she turned to glance at him over her shoulder, her eyes bright and her hand pushing unruly red curls away from her slender face, he could have melted there on the sand. There was so much passion in them, even when she was doing nothing more than staring out in the vast expanse of the ocean.

"Are you going to stand there staring at me all day," She smirked playfully, "Or come join me?"

He closed his eyes as his lips pulled up. He took a step forward, and after that it was all too easy. She pulled at him like a magnet, and he soon found her wrapped in his arms, his chest pressed to her back.

"It really is pretty." She mused to herself as she reached up to stroke his cheek.

"My view," He said, staring into her eyes, "Is far more beautiful."

She opened her mouth to say something, a flirty smirk on her lips, when she suddenly felt his hand in her hair. He gathered the cascade of crimson curls, letting them slip through his fingers.

"You're hair is lovely." He remarked, "Just like a rose."

She hesitated for a minute, sighing as she responded sadly, "I have thorns, Kurama. I'll only hurt you in the end."

"You forget," He replied as he pinned those loose waves back with his hand and slipped a smooth green stem behind her ear, "That some roses have no thorns."

He leaned in, capturing her mouth with his as the light behind them died to deep purple.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Chapter Nine: Fire and Ice**_

He was everything she wasn't: a calculated, cold-blooded killer with a heart of ice and evil ambition. He was the thing that went bump in the night and the nameless darkness that hid in the minds of even the most unassuming person. He was the embodiment of everything she hated, everything she was anathema to…Or…so she told herself…

As time passed and days slipped into weeks and months and years, she felt those thoughts begin to change; because, really, they weren't so different.

He was ambitious. Even if his methods were questionable, his ultimate goal was not. All shinobi wanted power, the power to protect or the power to love or the power to choose. The entire world was about power, and structured to accommodate it: power was their money and their mission and their life. Without it, what were they? What _good_ were they? What good was she?

He told her, many times in the quiet dead of the night as they lay sweat soaked between the sheets and each other, when he would whisper that he loved her. Even in the beginning, when she hated him and would have given anything for him to die, she wanted to hear those words…that she was useful to someone…that someone cared. He gave her that…Maybe, she thought to herself, that was why she started loving him at all…

All the dark obsessions…the way she forgot about Konoha and her sister and even the comrades he had killed in front of her…the way she would beg him to touch her, to look at her, to say something to her…She was so cold, and even with the ice of his skin against her, she felt warmer…He used to tell her that she woke him up, breathed life into him and fanned the fires of his darkest desires.

And so they were caught in the passion play of nature…in the way opposites attracted and the way the mind and the heart could war against each other. Looking back, even with the perspective of time and distance and the hazy veil of death, she could still love him, and still hate him…life, she reminded herself as she brushed hair away from the inky mark on her throat, was a series of contradictions…the shades of grey between black and white.

He hadn't always been a graceless shadow of evil intent. Once, he had simply been an ambitious shinobi, not unlike Naruto in that respect. He had wanted to be the best in the village…the best in the world. And even after all her years with him, she wasn't quite sure when, or where, that ambition had turned into something so much darker…

She wasn't sure when _she_ turned that path herself. It was so easy to be drawn in by his charisma and his charm and his morbid logic. It was so easy, once she took that first step, to dive right into the murky miasma of his mind and to accept it, embrace it, even…

She was so taken in that it didn't matter that he had damned her for eternity with endless power and the corrosion of her soul that came with it. After all…he had given her just what she wanted…power. The strength to be the best…

Lynn sighed to herself as she ran her thumb lightly over the Otogakure headband. It was deeply scored by an ugly gash that cut it in half…a reminder of the day when she finally found her soul again and ran as far as she could…ran harder than she thought she could…for the dumb, small, impossible chance that she might be able to keep it, given a second chance…

Still, though, there was no denying that even sitting in the middle of her happy, apple-pie life that she was scarred and damaged by her time in the confines of the Sound Village. Sometimes, in the dark of the night when she was sitting outside to stare at the moon, she could swear she felt his breath on the back of her neck…

But what scared her most was that sometimes she didn't mind it…

Sometimes…

Sometimes she almost missed it…


	10. Chapter 10

_**Chapter Ten: Veil**_

Of all the hundreds of thousands of different ways to die, Haruno Lynn never imagined that she would find herself at the losing end of a skirmish as the village was invaded. She had certainly envisioned her own death many times before…how could she not when she was so thoroughly surrounded by it? Death was the shadow of the moon in the dark night sky of a shinobi's life. And even for all her dark musings she never imagined that it would be Konoha to fall…

She laughed bitterly to herself as blood rushed up into her throat; she coughed red into the bloodstained dirt around her. She wished the Oto ninja had simply finished her off…watching as the Leaf Village burned around her was far worse than her own impending death. The air was thick with smoke and cries and blood, and it made her eyes water.

Who was she kidding, she wondered…her eyes weren't watering. She was crying…like a damned baby…One hell of a way to go: dying in a puddle of your own blood and crying yourself into eternity.

She comforted herself with the knowledge that the end was near: she could feel the heat of her body beginning to dim, and the feeling in her fingertips race away. Her vision was blurring, her ears ringing and her chest tightening. She could feel, with a kind of morbid intimacy that only a medic could understand, the light of life dying.

There was movement in front of her suddenly, and her eyes settled on a pair of straw sandals. Slowly, they drifted up to take in the white socks and the black of the uniform. He had, she realized with dispassionate malaise, that his hair was the same color as hers…tied back with a black and white band

"I've got another one," She said over his shoulder to a severe looking man with black hair and white and black robes.

"If you're going to kill me," She hacked again, blood rushing past her lips in a metallic wave, "Do it."

He glanced down at her in mild surprise; really, she was so close that he shouldn't have been shocked that she could see him.

"We're not." He said simply as he knelt down, offering his hand.

Suddenly, all the weight and the pain and the exhaustion fell away. Shocked, she reached blindly for him; he caught her hand, pulling her up on her feet.

"It's time to go." He told her.

"I have a war to win." She told him, pivoting hard on her heel and staring blue down at the ground…

Her body was laid out there, a gaping hole ripped through her back and into her chest. Blood was settling around her in a gory halo, her eyes blank and her mouth open and stained…

"I'm…dead…" She stammered.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned instinctively to face him.

"You did your part," He told her, "It's time to rest."

"Like hell!" She roared back.

He smirked at her with approval, "There is one other option."

And, so, she began down another path…a path that cut through a greater plan and stretched into infinity. That day, she became a Shinigami.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Chapter Eleven: Illusion**_

"Are you even real?" She asked as his arms slipped around her.

"You can feel me." He replied in quiet observation.

That was true…she could feel the fine architecture of his musculature against her back, and the heat of his arms, and the weighty coolness of the blanket, and the dusting of warm breath on the back of her neck…But did that really prove anything?

"That doesn't mean a thing," She responded as she turned over to face him, "You know that, Itachi."

He didn't refute her claim; he was a master of illusions. He could craft any world he wanted and drag others into it. It might have been a Hell, or a Paradise. It could have been a riot of primary colors, or the bloody veil of inverted black and white.

"Why does it matter?" He asked.

"I don't want to live an illusion."

"Life is an illusion." He replied. "It's the hallucination Death uses to appease us before he comes."

"I suppose you would know…" She trailed off.

He continued as if he hadn't heard her, "Illusions are what we want them to be, Lynn. So make life what you want it to be."

"Always so enigmatic, Itachi." She said as she rolled on top of him and drew him into a longing kiss.

As she pulled away, she stared into the crimson of his eyes, tracing the intricate bands of color that the moonlight brought out.

Finally, she sighed, "I guess I'm the illusion, then."

"I choose to make you real." He said as he turned her over and pressed his lips to her neck.

"Why, Itachi? I'm just a ghost…" She thought back to all the nights in the Oto compound…to all the whispered words and the rough caressed and the silent promises.

"Because I love you." His mouth crashed against hers.


	12. Chapter 12

_**Chapter Twelve: Moonlit Shadow**_

"You know you're not allowed in my room." She said, glaring daggers at the silver-haired figure that was partially eclipsed by the darkness of her meager quarters.

"You know I can't resist." He smirked, his teeth shining in the poor light.

"Leave, Kabuto." She said simply, "Or I'll inform Orochimaru of your indiscretions."

He moved forward just as she stepped through the doorway and for a moment she thought he might actually leave her to the quiet of her room; but a moment later when the door closed and his aura was no weaker, she knew it wasn't going to be a good night.

She turned on her heel, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at him with faint rage in her hazel eyes. "Did you not hear me?"

He smiled and the light illuminated the frames of his glasses, "You know it won't matter if you tell him."

"Well, let's test that theory, then." She responded, calling his bluff and taking a step forward. Her hand was already pushing to slide it aside when his gloved palm came down on her wrist.

She opened her mouth to order him to take his hands off of her, but even before the first word could leave her mouth, he sent her spinning across the room. The well-timed twist of his arm sent her sprawling against her bed. She had just enough time to cry in alarm before his weight came down on her back and strangled the air from her lungs.

"Do you really think he'll kill me, Lynn?" He asked, leaning in so close his lips brushed the delicate cartilage of her ear, "He needs me. He knows it, and I know that you know it."

She gritted her teeth, refusing to give even an inch.

"Let's stop playing these frivolous games, Lynn." She could hear the maniacal laughter in his voice.

"I won't give myself to you." She snorted.

"Then I'll take you." He replied harshly, his hand already groping under her skirt.

In the morning, when Orochimaru asked about the bruise on her neck and her strange limp, she lied and said it was a training accident.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Chapter Thirteen: Shadow**_

Lynn was attracted to darkness; she loved the quiet silence of the night, when the moon hung low in the velveteen blue sky, and the chaos of the soul of great minds. She loved the duality of darkness: the innocence of children being tucked in by their parents that was such a sharp contrast to the dangerous depths of black. For her, as for all shinobi, night was her playground.

She loved when she hid in those quiet shadows only to feel the night wrap around and embrace her…the heat of his breath dusting the back of her pale throat and sending hot shivers down her spine. She loved the feel of his slender hands on the back of hers and the glint of the meager light in his coffee brown eyes.

"One of these days, Lynn, I'm going to hurt you." Bakura whispered low in her ear.

She could hear the Millennium Ring jingle and felt its weight against the hollow of her back.

"I know." She responded, feeling for an instant a pang of guilt. She met with the Thief of the Night, and whether or not it was his body to use, they were already so far gone that it didn't matter. She supposed it was cruel kindness that Ryo often didn't remember their excursions…or chose not to, at least.

"Then why do you keep coming back?" There was a dark smirk in his voice, and his hands landed on her hips almost lovingly.

Why? Because she loved the danger and the suspense and the not knowing. She loved hating him as much as she loved him. She loved that there were no strings attached, that their relationship ostensibly ended with the coming of the dawn…she loved the race against time.

"Do you remember the way I tore you apart?" He asked as he ran his fingers through her hair, "Your hair was longer, then."

She had a sudden disturbing flashback of the Thief King grabbing her hair and slamming her…no, Omorose, into a smooth sandstone wall…Strangely, the thought was viscerally exciting.

"But you know how I love when we fight." She whispered back.

His hand drifted in front of her face, flashing a Necro card in the moonlight. "You know one day I'll seal you in the Shadow Realm."

"That assumes you'll beat me." She responded, reaching back to stroke his cheek.

"You keep coming here, Lynn. I've already won."

"Maybe I just like the game." She said back as she spun to kiss him under the fading silver of the crescent hanging above them.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Chapter Fourteen: Uniform**_

"I am never wearing this damn thing again." Lynn hissed to herself as she pulled on the navy blue coat hanging off her shoulders.

It was heavy wool, probably the least logical fabric for the desert heat of Amestris. And all those stupid folds and gold bars and heavy uniform dress garments just made it even worse. It made _no God-damned freaking sense!_

"Who the hell makes these fucking uniforms!" She wondered to herself.

"Take it off, then." Roy replied reasonably, his eyes never leaving the ground below them.

Three figures engaged in a conversation too faint to hear, but they already knew they were domestic terrorists using Philosopher's Stone fragments. They were just trying to get to their supplier.

"Pervert!" She hissed.

"I don't want you dropping from heatstroke when we move to incarcerate our suspects." He said.

"Go to hell, Mustang" She responded even as she unbuttoned the jacket and folded it next to her. Admittedly, the black tank top underneath it was significantly cooler, but now she had the aching feeling she was going home with one hell of a sunburn…

"I swear if I get skin cancer from this stupid mission…"

"You're awfully whiny today." Roy remarked as he fitted his glove over his hand.

"You can't tell me you aren't baking in this heat." She shot back angrily.

"I didn't say I was enjoying it." He replied as he eyed their targets. On the edge of the other building, something glittered faintly in the light. Obviously, Riza was well into position, and had probably been making herself comfortable for quite some time. In the crowd below he saw the flash of Ed's red jacket, and noted his position to himself. Al, he knew, wouldn't be far behind…likely hiding out in the shadows of the tall buildings to avoid calling attention to himself.

"Then why don't you strip a bit?" She suggested with a naughty edge in her voice.

"I don't mix business and pleasure." He reminded her.

"Oh, really…" She leaned in against him, pressing her full chest to his back, "Are you sure you won't make an…_exception?_"

He shivered even in the desert heat, "Lynn, stop. We're on duty."

"And that only makes it all the more fun." She replied, her hand sliding lower into his lap.

Across the way, Riza averted her eyes and informed the ground units that it was unlikely that Lynn and Roy were going to show. When asked why, she replied simply that they were indisposed.


	15. Chapter 15

_**Chapter Fifteen: Time**_

She is merely twelve when she first finds herself standing over the bleeding body of her first real enemy. And she stares at her hands with a vague kind of fascinated horror at the blood on her hands. The metallic scent in the musky air seems so wrong and she can't really even remember what happened. One moment she was standing and the next he was in front of her and then there was only the weak resistance of his flesh as she plunged her kunai deep into his chest. And she is suddenly very sad.

She is six the first time her mother hands her a tiny bundle wrapped in a faintly woolly swatch of obnoxiously pink fabric. From the oval of it a tiny pale face stares back at her. She has a head of fuzzy pinkish hair and impossibly green eyes and she is so small. She is wrinkled and tiny and has a faint sort of otherworldliness that the red-headed child doesn't understand. And instantly she wants nothing more than to protect her from even the sun beating down on her too hard.

She is thirteen the first time she cries for her broken heart. She weeps like a little girl in the dark of her room and curses into her pillow and damns the entire world. She hates everything, how unfair it all is…she hates even herself for learning to love _him_. She wants to kill him now, as though his blood will somehow bring the warmth back to her chest. She knows now, she tells herself, that she will never let someone that close again.

She is a small child of four the first time she decides she wants to be a shinobi. She sees the kunoichi as she twirls her kunai effortlessly, instructing a group of older children in the arts of weapons. And she is so enamored by the glean of the metal and the promise of power and the awe-inspiring respect.

She is eighteen when she learns to run. She feels the panic rising up in her chest and she can't help but let her legs move. To some degree, the ragged harshness of her breath and the burn of tired muscles reminds her that she's alive…even as the shadows around her press in for the kill and the mark on her slender throat throbs and the darkness glares at her with hateful spite.

She is somewhere in her twenties when she finally finds the courage to face Tsunade again. The blonde woman is unhappy to see her, of course, but even she can feel maternal instinct between them. She knows that housing a traitor of Lynn's caliber is dangerous and she also knows the red-head has nowhere else to go. So she does the only thing she can: she stands up, hugs her, and tells her that it will be alright. And then she sits and writes a long letter to an old friend a world way.

She lost age for a few years, when she was hidden among the Akatsuki. She imagines she must have been on the cusp of her twenties, caught somewhere between tenuous adolescence and the frightening prospect of the physical decline that adulthood promises. But she stops herself from thinking about it because there's too much to do, too much to see and to find…The answers, she knows, are out there somewhere…and she wants to hold them in her own hands.

She is sixty-eight when she retires from the military of Konoha. She doesn't do it because she can't meet the rigor of the physical demands. More, she knows that her time is preciously short in her life and she wants to enjoy it with her children and her grandchildren…she wants some peace for them away from the ever churning wars and clans and clashes.

She is dangerously close to thirty when her younger sister comes to her with the happy news that she is pregnant. Lynn is happy for her, and she feels her old protectiveness rise up as she embraces the pink-haired female. These are dangerous times, she knows, and they have so much to lose…and so much to gain…

She is sixteen when she learns the meaning of helplessness. She watches in impotent horror as a pale shadow of terror slaughters her comrades. She feels each cut and each burn as if it were her own body being torn. She feels their lives leave them with painful intensity…and when it's over, she knows the meaning of fear.

She is ninety when she passes quietly in her bed at home in the arms of her husband. She slips away, with the elegant silence of a shinobi, and into the warm light of the distance future. She knows, with intimate surety, that this is hardly the end…that past the white eclipse of radiance there is another life waiting to be lived.


	16. Chapter 16

_**Chapter Sixteen: Sexy**_

**Itachi**

He loved the way she would sprawl out on the grass after a training session, chest heaving, sweat dampening her hair, her smirk wide…He loved the way those red strands shimmered when they were wet with her hair work, and the iridescent shimmer of her skin in the moonlight. He loved curling up against her despite her playful protests and telling her she was _so_ close to beating him, if for no other reason than to tease her lightly.

And when she turned over to press her lips against his, he could feel his pulse quicken underneath his skin. He would lay his hands against the swell of her hips and pull her close to him and take her into the passionate night.

**Kurama**

"You really do have a way with plants." He remarked as he watched her push another thorny bramble away so she could water the rose root beneath it.

"Learned from the best." She replied with a smirk as she rose from the moist earth and pushed her hair out of her face with her wrist.

"You flatter me." He responded with a small smile, his eyes closed in happy satisfaction.

"Don't be so humble." She said, pressing herself against him to press her lips against his cheek; but when she tried to pull away, he captured her around the waist with his arm and buried his nose deep in her messy red hair.

She smelled like life itself: the musky, organic richness of the earth and the vibrant floral perfume of the red roses that surrounded them…the saltiness of her sweat against the natural tang of her skin…

"You really are lovely." He said, releasing her at last.

**Orochimaru**

He pressed down on top of her with hungry desire, his hands already locked in her hair and his tongue already prodding her mouth. He pushed her back, and the excitement he felt as she jarred against the wall made him swell.

His lips moved over her finely sculpted jaw and down her neck. He lingered for only a moment on the hollow of her throat before he leaned forward and began to suck at the black tattoo of the cursemark. She moaned hotly, her fingers clutching his shirt, but he could only feel the pulse of power there, contained by her translucent skin and her will. The intricate play of white and black in the moonlight.

**Seto**

He loved it when she returned from a duel. She had such a light vibrancy to her step and her smile and the sparkle of her eyes. She had just a bit more swing in her full hips and breathed just a little deeper, heaved her chest just a bit more…And there was, of course, the red flush of victory that was so much like the blush of passion.

He loved it when she threw her duel disc aside as she strode into the office, kicking the door closed behind her, and straddled him in his chair. She would kiss him hard and long and torture him until she was ready to let him have her. And even then she owned him totally, played him, made him want more…

He shuddered to himself, glanced back at his computer screen, and thought to himself that she should be home any minute…

**Roy**

In some ways, he thought to himself as he glanced over the top of the reports clutched in his hands, the heavy navy blue wool uniform of the Amestris army makes her even sexier. Then again, he knows that beneath the shapeless cylinder of fabric there are all the curves of femininity. The flat, shapeless of her chest and hips, he knew, were mere illusions.

He remembered the first night they spent together, and the way he relished peeling away the heavy layers of blue to reveal the soft suppleness of her body. It had been like unwrapping a gift he hadn't known he was getting.

He heard an inferior to his left comment that though she had a pretty face, she had nothing on some of the other females. Roy couldn't help but smirk to himself; if only they knew.

**Bakura**

Dangerous excited him; and, apparently, he mused to himself, it did the same for her. Why else would she come creeping into his room in the middle of the night, even when she knew that he wanted nothing more than to hear her scream in terror as she was consumed by the darkness of her own fears?

His tongue slipped between his lips as he wet them; certainly, for a time, her passionate cries of ecstasy had been enough for him…but he wanted more. He wanted horror and terror and aching…passion could only come so close to the sounds that he truly desired.

Though the thought of losing her was vaguely unpleasant, their relationship had always been based in loss. The loss of light and love and the replacement with lust and darkness and cries in the night.

For a bit longer, he thought to himself, he would settle for her cries of passion.

**Renji**

He liked her most away from the cold harshness of the battlefield, away from the angry screams of hungry Hollows, and the desperate cries of terrified Wholes. When it was just the two of them behind the walls of Sereitei.

He liked to watch the way she would roll her sake cup between her fingers and the breathy sigh she would let loose between burning sips. He liked when she leaned over, the tiny cup still clutched between her delicate fingers, to lay a hot kiss on his lips.

He liked it best when there was no front…nothing to hide and no one to impress…

**Deidara**

She was at her hottest, her best, her sexiest, when she was engulfed in the white light of the rising sun, just before the clouds interfered with the pure color. The fiery red of her hair was a perfect shade of ruby, and her eyes were the ideal shade of gold-flecked brown.

Those were the moments when she inspired him most, and he could literally feel his palms itching to dig into the pliable clay he carried with him. He could feel the pulse of his art begging to be created.

She was his muse, from the unique vibrancy of her hair down to the feline grace of her movements. And sometimes it was so overwhelming that he had to leave the room, his body humming with an erotic high, to bring her spirit to life in clay and fireworks and bloody spatters on the rich earth.


	17. Chapter 17

_**Chapter Seventeen: Wardrobe **_

Lynn didn't think of herself as sentimental. It was a weakness, a disadvantage, in the world of combat and bloodshed that she survived in. It left gaps in her defenses and made her vulnerable to the darker games that shinobi played with each others' heads and hearts. Still…she just couldn't help herself when she looked into her closet.

She even laughed at herself when she did…of all the things to keep in her masculine, strange world dresses certainly seemed like both the best and worst choice…Imagine, she mused to herself, the Red Flame of the ANBU Black Ops, hoarding a closet full of gowns, cocktail dresses, and flirty, full-skirted outfits. At the same time…they all meant so much to her…

Her fingers drifted over to the first dress she had ever chosen for herself. It was childish even back then, but it had been so unique to her. It was short, barely hitting her knees even as a ten year old, and made of a rather cheap blue cotton. It had an A-line skirt, fluffed with inexpensive tulle, and sported a sailor collar and neckline. She had worn it to the Academy graduation ceremony; it was the evening after they met their instructors, even before she had learned the names of her teammates.

She had sat alone for a while at a table far from the dancing and the bright strobe lights. And, for a while, she wasn't sure why she had bothered to come at all. Everyone else had their close knit cliques, their boyfriends and girlfriends, even their enemies, to keep them entertained. She, though, sat quietly by herself and let her eyes wander bemusedly across the grove until they fell on a familiar figure.

Uchiha Itachi.

She snorted lightly to herself, though she couldn't help but think he looked almost as uncomfortable as she did in his black suit and blue tie. But just as quickly as the thought washed over her, his eyes darted up suddenly to meet hers.

She dropped her gaze instinctively, cursing herself silently for doing so. She didn't want him to think she was one of the helplessly love-struck females that chased him like lost puppies.

She was so wrapped up in her self-depreciating thoughts that she didn't even see him wander over until he finally spoke, "It's not appropriate to stare."

"Oh, don't start with me, Uchiha." She replied hotly, somewhat bitter of the fact he had beaten her out of the number one spot by so few points, "Shouldn't be flirting with the girls? I know a few who are desperate to date you."

"I have no interest in weak-minded females." He responded, taking a seat.

"I didn't invite you to sit here." She said, eyes narrowed.

He chuckled, "You always were strong willed, Lynn."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Perhaps." He said, adding, "I'll be in the fields tomorrow, if you want a few pointers on your kunai technique."

She opened her mouth to protest the implication, thought twice about it-had she just been asked out on a date?-and blushed furiously.

Even now, as an older woman standing in front of her wardrobe, she had to blush…it had all been so playful back then.

She sighed as her thoughts jumped automatically to the tragic end of their story. Of course, there was nothing left for her to do except let her eyes dart to the next dress on the rack.

A tiny black thing with a faintly Grecian feel to it; draped over one shoulder before falling into waves against her body. It hit her comfortably at mid-thigh, and had a certain classic sultriness to it.

She had worn it begrudgingly for a state event she had been strong-armed into by her sensei. It was some Suna-Konoha-Mizu treaty meeting that was more of a good excuse to drink and bed a few of the choice shinobi from other countries than a peace conference. She had been chosen to represent the Medical Corps. and had hated it the entire time.

She would much rather at the time have been training than sitting dejectedly in the corner answering the prying questions of inebriated men. Naturally, and she had known going in that none of them would be, were interested in her line of work. They were interested in…extracurricular activities.

One grabbing hand too many and red fell over her eyes. She reeled hard, intent on smacking him despite the political repercussions. But just as she raised her hand to do just that, a gloved one caught her from behind and pulled her close.

"You should be more careful with your bracelet, Lynn," Kakashi said, his nimble fingers moving across the crystal band in a show of innocent primping.

"What are you doing?" She hissed to him under her breath.

He smiled at the offending gentleman, spun Lynn around, and led her towards the buffet table, "Averting a war."

"Don't be an ass."

"Such language." He clicked his tongue.

"I'm a freaking shinobi…" She deadpanned.

"Hence why I want to talk to you."

"This had better be good, Kakashi-sensei."

"You're being promoted to jonin." He responded, "Your first mission is tomorrow. So go sober up."

It was one of the happiest times of her life…

Her hazel eyes darted immediately to the left, where a full-length white gown hung in the dark, throwing off faint pearls of light. The silver lamé shone beautifully even in the poor light.

She could almost feel Sakura's fingertips on the small of her back as she laced her into it. She had felt like such a princess, even just in the recesses of the church before the ceremony. But walking down the aisle with Seto Kaiba waiting for her at the end had taken her breath away…

She had never imagined that she would survive to see her own wedding, let alone find a man she loved enough after Itachi to consider such a possibility…after all, Itachi had been her dream…

All dreams, though, had to come to an end…

She reached far back into the closet until her hand brushed against the coarse fabric of a somber black dress. It was a sheath of rough cotton with long, tapering sleeves and a high neckline; and it made her so sad…

Even just the texture took her back to the gloomy black day when she had watched Deidara carry Itachi's bloody back to the compound, wrapped in his own tattered and stained cloak. He had been buried that same day, laid out in a small bit and burned so that his remains wouldn't fall into the wrong hands.

She remembered standing there alone, long after everyone else had moved back inside, and cursing at the sky for _not _raining. It felt wrong that, so wrapped up in her grief as she was, the world wasn't mourning with her. She felt so utterly alone, standing to the side of the scorched earth…mere feet away from him and so far removed from him…

It had taken time for her to find closure. She felt, for a long time, like she was disrespecting his memory. But, as the years slipped by and the sharp pain faded into a dull ache, she gave herself permission to take a tentative step forward and into Deidara's arms…

His was the purple fabric that was almost lost in the dark of the closet. He had given it to her as a kind of courting present, blushing and stammering all the way as he struggled to explain the elaborate, expensive gift.

At the time, it had been a deep lavender silk kimono with wide, long sleeves. It had a design of water lilies, lined with silver to replicate the delicate ripples around them. Jade green leaves floated next to them, dotted by ruby red and metallic blue dragon flies with finely veined wings. The under robe had been a brilliant yellow shot with gold threads in a design of tiny orange blossoms. The obi that had been folded on top of it was a deep, rich blue that reminded her of the night sky around a full moon. It had been woven with a design of fans; each of the beautifully pleated white objects was shot through with a flowing curve of silver or blue or red, just like a dancer's fan.

"I was wondering," He had said, "If you'd wear it…so I could draw you."

She had laughed, not because she thought it was amusing, but because she was so excited. She told him she was free that night and he told her to meet him in his quarters…and so they parted ways.

Hours later, after the sun had set, she bathed long and luxuriously before painstakingly arranging the fabric around her body and slipping into his room. It had all started innocently enough…and then he had stepped forward and pulled the silk down over one shoulder, just enough to expose the half-moon of her pale breast.

As his fingertips brushed the skin, she moaned, and reached out to him, her fingers twining in his shirt. She had pulled him down into a deep, slow kiss, and let him undress her…

The rest of the night was spent in a languid kind of slow build until they finally crested together…like water over rocks…

She sighed to herself, forcing herself to go a happier place in her mind than his violent death as she eyed the last dress.

By most any one's standards, it was an ugly, strange thing…brownish in color and uncomfortable to the touch with visible seams. At the same time, though, she couldn't help but feel it was beautiful…it was the only dress she had worn with every single one of her lovers…the only one to pull their individual stories together into a collective history…

It was her sick dress…a sickly-looking piece of clothing that was too short in the hem and too big in the sleeves. But when she wore it, she could feel Itachi's hand brushing her hair away from her fevered forehead, or Deidara sponging her chest with cool water, or Kaiba's hand in her own…

She stepped away from the closet and closed the door and walked into the living room

It was time, she thought to herself, to go buy a new dress.


	18. Chapter 18

_**Chapter Eighteen: Song**_

_Life After You, _Daughtry

She had a hard time moving on after him, mostly because the only thing that separated them was himself…he had left her in the middle of the night, to continue down his dark road. She was alone, again…or, at least that was how she felt…until one night when she packed her small satchel and left in the dead of the night.

To follow after him…to find him…

_Even Angels Fall, _Jessica Riddle

That was what she told herself as she watched Orochimaru plunge deeper and deeper into the darkness each day…how she excused herself for not stopping him, for not even trying. It was how she swept her guilt away…the tool she used to ignore it all.

She still knew it was true, though…the only difference, she thought as she looked into the mirror and stared at her own reflection, was that a mere fact wasn't going to stop her from stepping forward.

_Disturbia, _Rihanna

She couldn't stop herself from slipping away to him in the middle of the night. Even though she knew he wanted nothing more than her blood on his hands and her soul at his mercy…for some fucked up, sick reason…she just had to hold him and have him. When the Thief King surfaced in Bakura, it did something to her…something she couldn't explain…and just like that, she was his.

_Frontline, _Pillar

There was nothing in the world like the rush of seeing the enemy tide rushing down to crash upon the rocks of Konoha's armies. The tingle of adrenaline, the hum of her pulsing blood in her ears…the yield of human flesh against her fist and the victorious shouts of her comrades…that was what drove Lynn.

The power, the passion, the promise.

_Falling Inside the Black, _Skillet

She hadn't thought much about Death…a shinobi never did. It would drive them crazy. Denial, it was agreed by silence, was the only way to deal with their inevitable mortality. They traded such much to be shinobi…even the fear that made them human.

Still…sometimes…when she looked into the mirror and saw how empty her eyes were and felt the hollowness in her chest, she had to question if she wasn't already falling into the oblivion…

_Hero,_ Skillet

She was on the edge…on the verge. Of what, she wasn't sure…but she knew it couldn't be good. What else would draw her to the skivvy bar on the edge of Konoha long after the sun set? Her own loneliness, her own weakness, she thought as she downed another shot of fiery sake.

"You can certainly hold your liquor." Someone commented beside her.

She opened her mouth to snap a reply back when she realized who it was: The Slug Princess, the Sannin Lady Tsunade…

"You're…" She stammered.

"Yeah, yeah, kid." The woman replied bemusedly, "Don't make a scene."

She glanced down, embarrassed, at her empty shot glass.

"You have good chakra." The blonde continued, eyeing her analytically, "Instead of sitting here, drinking, why don't we do something with it?"

_Creature of the Night, _D.J. BoBo

Lynn had loved the night since she was a child. It was so quiet, so mysterious…so beautiful. Compared to the garish brightness of day, it was so much more elegant…so perfect in its complex simplicity.

She learned to merge it, to hide in it and let it consume her, and to drink it up in return. She learned the dark arts of a kunoichi, preformed in the darkness of the night, and learned how to meditate in the cool quiet.

By the time she received the white mask of an ANBU, she was quite literally one with the night.

_Stronger, _Brittney Spears

As she turned down the dark road ahead of her, so obscured by indecision and the unknown, she realized that until she was strong by herself, with no one else to watch her back, she wasn't ready to come back. She couldn't cling to her friends, her lovers, anymore. She was going, she decided, despite the fear.

And she wasn't coming back until she was stronger.

_Misery Business,_ Paramore

Lynn couldn't help but love the look she got when she stepped into a room. From the questionable bars on the outskirts of the village all the way up to the office of the Hokage, men drank her up. She could feel their eyes on the swell of her bust and the sultry swing of her hips as she took a step forward.

She didn't play innocent, of course. If she wanted something, she got it. From her position as an ANBU Captain all the way down to the attention of the suspicious men in the streets. Naturally, of course, she garnered her fair share of female hostility. But, really, she thought to herself with a smirk, did it matter?

She would beat them time and time again, and the feeling was never going to get any better.

_Savin' Me, _Nickelback

They were stuck in a silent showdown; his katana was held in front of him, like she, of all people, was the enemy.

"Itachi…" She stammered, her eyes falling on the torn bodies behind him and the puddles of blood that were sinking into the ground, "Please…tell me…tell me this wasn't you…"

He flickered suddenly, appearing in front of her, his katana pressed dangerously against her stomach. His eyes were sickeningly red in the silver moonlight, and his lips were cold with congealing blood.

He pulled away an instant later, sheathing the weapon, and looking at her as if he expected her to plunge her own sword into his chest. But…her fingers, like her face, were too numb to do anything. His lips moved lightly, though she couldn't hear what he was saying, as he walked past her.

She spun a long moment later, yelling at him in desperation, "Itachi…tell me what you said! _Say it!_"

He took a step forward, as if he was ignoring her…and the suddenly glanced over his shoulder, "I love you, Lynn."

He flickered again, and she felt his breath on the back of her neck before her world went dark.

_My Immortal_, Evanescence

The shinobi world was comprised of lies; really, there entire existence was probably founded on one massive lie somewhere in the lost annals of time. Not, of course, that it really mattered to her anymore. She lived the lie, even embraced it. It was what she had chosen.

That did beg the question, though…her eyes darted automatically to the blond, blue-eyed artist at her side…was love a lie, too?

_Angel of Darkness, _Alex feat. Yasmin K.

She needed to atone. Whatever other uncertainties laid in her mind or plagued her heart, that was clear to her. She had left him unchecked for far too long, had betrayed Konoha, had abandoned her sister, and forgotten who she was…the sins were adding up so quickly, the indiscretions so heinous, that she wasn't sure even a lifetime of reparation would make up for all of it…

But doing nothing was even worse.

As she slipped into the dark forest around the compound, she told herself she was going to do the right thing: she was going to take the dark power he had given her, and use it against him.

_Firework_, Katy Perry

"You're…the Red Flame?"

Lynn directed her glance over and, seeing nothing but open air, down to the rather small female somewhere near her heel. She had her hand to her mouth, clutching a small blanket to her chest. She couldn't have been more than six or seven…not even close to being able to enter the Academy.

"Yeah, I am." She smiled, kneeling down to meet her gaze.

"You're…a woman…" There was such awe in her voice that Lynn was a bit peeved she had been so sheltered. It didn't dim the warmth of her response, though, "Yup! I'm a girl, just like you!"

"I want to be just like you!" The small girl told her, frowning suddenly, "But the boys tell me I can't be…"

"You can!" Lynn replied as fiercely as she could without scaring her. "You can be the best kunoichi in the world, if you want to be; but you have to work hard."

The girl's face lit up and she smiled and said, "I will! I'll work harder than all of them!"

She raced off into the crowd and disappeared in a sea of legs.

Lynn smiled to herself, waving after her, and thinking that girl would be a bombshell in no time at all. A kunoichi to make Konoha proud.

And, silently, Lynn told the small girl thank-you; she had just been thinking how worthless she was…

_Stand in the Rain, _Superchick

Half of the battle, Lynn knew, was hanging on. It was easy to give up in the heat of combat and lose the will to live and lay down and die. It was about weathering the storm and pushing through even when she thought it was over and when she _wanted _it to be over.

And, at the end of it all, past the blood and the battle and the icy chill of her harsh world, there was always a light at the end of the tunnel…the sun rising for the next day or setting on a poor one.

_Gekidou, _Uverworld

There were moments in Lynn's life that changed her irrevocably. Some were sad, some were happy, some confused…when it was all said and done, it didn't matter what emotion she attached to it. The fact of the matter was that just by seeing it, or hearing it, or being a part of it, she had altered on some very fundamental level.

At the end of the road, though, she wanted to be able to look back and experience all of them, and reminisce and find acceptance. More than anything else, that was why she forced her eyes open in the morning and kept walking down an uncertain road that stretched into an uncertain future.

_We Are, _Ana Johnsson

There was one thing that you couldn't escape in the shinobi world: responsibility. For some, like Kakashi, that was the one saving grace of their world. For others, like Lynn, it was the black stain on their souls and in their hearts and minds.

She felt so much responsibility that sometimes she wondered how it didn't crush her…In the end, though, laying down and dying solved nothing…and that left only one option: keep going.

_Talkin' 2 Myself, _Ayumi Hamasaki

There was an innate balance to the world that Lynn found strangely comforting. In a place where nothing was certain, it gave her a certain hope that even if things weren't even close to alright, they would be eventually. She knew there was nothing permanent to her reality, the reality dominated so much by illusion and lies and deception, but there were inescapable truths.

She was reminded, suddenly, of a small village she had once seen on a return-trip from a mission. It had been burned to the ground, and the skeletal remains that were left showed signs of a violent death. And, yet, for all the hopeless sadness and the loss, she couldn't help but stare at the tiny blooming sprouts that were growing from the ash-fertilized ground.

_Broken, _Nickelback feat. Amy Lee

Seto Kaiba had been a blessing in her dark life. He had taken her, as broken and tired and ruined as she was and gave her a purpose again. His arms became her shelter, and eventually he let her into the inner sanctum of his own traumatized self.

It was hard work, of course, getting over the pain and the distrust and the willingness to run away again. But in a world of incomplete loves and tragic romances and stories that had no ending, he became the thing she held to…to keep away the pain. And she became the pick that finally chipped away at his iciness.

And, at the end of the day, it was holding each other that they felt most safe and most content…the most complete.

_Faint, _Linkin Park

Lynn felt a special pride in herself when she saw doubt flicker across her enemy's eyes. She didn't savor their pain, of course, because she knew all too well how it was to be in their position. She knew all too intimately how even the slightest second guess could destroy their willpower. More, it was that it had taken her so long to pick herself back up that she was going to enjoy it. And, though Domino City had its own set of murky goings on, rarely did she find herself in a life or death situation.

She enjoyed being a presence in the city, and it brought back found memories of being a kunoichi among the ANBU Black Ops. She was, for the first time in years, feeling like she could face down the world again. She wanted to bottle that feeling and keep it with her, and, in a lot of ways, Domino had become that bottle.

She clenched her fist, reminding herself of her strength, and laid down her card.

_1000 Words, _Sweetbox

There were regrets in her life, naturally. It came with the territory of being a shadowy figure in a landscape of unspeakable horrors and the call of duty and loss. She had learned to accept it in her lifetime; but she hadn't expected that she would get a second chance…

When Renji lifted her from the ground and from her cold, dead body, she didn't realize what a chance she had been given. She had never imagined that she would one day lay eyes on the great loves of her life. She never dared to even dream that she might one day hold Itachi again.

But when the time came, there was an inescapable finality that she had never even considered. Their time, she knew, just as he, and all the others did, that their time together had run its natural course…that it was time to move on.

So, she did. And, eventually, through shared battles and long nights over warm sake and flirty looks, she came to Renji. It was as natural as water flowing downhill, and though she saw her old lovers often, there was never the old flame between them.

Then again…Lynn had never been one to stand still for very long…

_Sanctuary, _Utada Hikaru

The prospect of tomorrow always excited Lynn. You never knew who you would meet or what you would experience. And as she grew and matured, she came to realize that entire worlds could be opened up through a single person, a single place or time or event.

There was so much in the world, she thought to herself, the one around her and the one beyond it and the past even that, left to explore…


	19. Chapter 19

_**Chapter Nineteen: Dreamscapes and Demons**_

If it was one thing Lynn knew she should be used to, it was being chased by demons who had some kind of vendetta against her brother. Hell, it happened so often that she wasn't even really sure why she bothered running at all.

She supposed it was just part of the dynamic. They popped up, she acted scared, they snarled, she ran…blah, blah, blah…Then again, it would have been easier if people knew a bit more about the whole demons-trying-to-take-over-the-human-world-and-use-it-for-fucked-up-reasons situation…But when she thought about the kind of stupid, reckless panic that kind of information would yield, she decided she just preferred the game of double-bluff cat and mouse.

She stopped her pointlessly distracting train of thought where it was as she vaulted herself up into a large tree. Careful to steady herself on a sufficiently thick to hold her weight without rustling the leaves and giving away her position, she watched as the demon ran by under her.

She almost felt sorry for the poor thing…it didn't seem intelligent enough to recognize just how outclassed it really was. Though, she really did just want to get back to the façade of a normal life…the hide-and-seek game got to be fairly time-consuming, and she had homework that she wanted to do.

She waited for a few minutes, listening to the open air around her, before she decided it was convenient to get down. Naturally, of course, she fumbled the landing, snapping her backpack strap, and spewing books and papers across the sidewalk.

"Damn it…" She muttered under her breath, with a sigh, as she knelt to gather them up.

She reached blindly for a paper as she gathered a textbook, and jumped when her hand met another.

"You look like you need assistance, Ma'am."

"Don't tease me, Kurama." She replied, her tone light despite her words.

"My apologies." He said with that handsome smirk of his as he picked up the loose papers at his feet.

"You could at least make it worth my time…" She pouted playfully.

"Would you allow me to escort you home, to make up for my…" His smile widened, "Indiscretion?"

"If you insist."

He gave a mock bow, taking her broken bag from her with one hand and capturing her free arm.

"You really shouldn't be out alone this late." He commented.

"I can handle myself." She said.

"I don't doubt it." He said, "Perhaps you would be kind enough to humor me."

She rolled her eyes, "And what do I tell my cram school teacher?"

"I don't suppose she would accept that you have nightly rendezvous' with another student." There was the undertone of a joke to his voice.

"That sounds like a great way to get kicked out of school period for a conduct violation."

"I suppose it does." He agreed lightly.

"Besides," She added, "It's not like they're going to stop."

He didn't reply, but he knew it was the truth. As they edged closer and closer to another Dark Tournament, the stalking could only escalate into assaults…If it hadn't been for Koenma's order, they wouldn't have been going anyway…as it stood, they didn't have a chance.

"I was thinking, Lynn, that perhaps we might train a bit more."

"What about my homework?" She asked jokingly.

"I'll help you with both." He said resolutely.

"Suichi," She said, "You can't take care of it all."

He chuckled, "You underestimate me. I'm wounded."

"Oh, don't give me that sad-puppy dog routine," She responded, "It won't work."

He dropped her bag sudden and pinned her painlessly against a nearby tree, meeting her gaze steadily, "Then let's be serious for a moment."

"Su…ichi…" She trailed off, her breath hitching in the back of her throat.

"We are preparing to enter into the largest congregation of demons, among them the strongest and most vicious of their kind. Betrayal and deception are guaranteed. This could easily become a suicide mission."

"I…know that…"

"Listen to me, Lynn." His voice was suddenly very harsh, "I will _not_ lose you. And if all that's required of me to protect you even just a bit better is an extra hour of homework in the evening, I'm going to do it."

He suddenly released her and stepped back, "I apologize. That was very forward of me."

"Don't apologize." She said simply, feeling acutely ashamed that she had been handling the whole thing so flippantly. She swallowed hard, finding her voice again, "Do you want to start…tonight, maybe?"

"What about your homework?" He said, clearly trying to lighten the situation.

"Someone once told me I could go to them for tutoring, if I needed it." She smirked.

He smiled, nodded, and motioned for her to follow him.

About ten minutes later, she found herself behind an abandoned warehouse on the edge of the river. It was isolated, and from the streets, no one would be able to see them. It was about as good as things got in the middle of the city.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

In the pale moonlight she could see the rose clasped between his forefinger and thumb.

She nodded, "Yeah. Bring it on."

Despite her words, she wasn't prepared for how fast the lash of the whip really was. It was blind instinct more than skill that resulted in her clumsy combat roll.

'_Get it together!'_ She shouted at herself as she rolled up onto her heel and tried to dart into the range where his whip would lose its deadly speed.

"You're entirely too predictable." He told her as he bounced off of the ball of his foot and shot into the air.

The whip changed course suddenly, flying at her from the right.

"Damn it!" She cursed even as she managed to kick herself up and over it. She miraculously landed well and was able to jump away from his next strike.

"You're too slow." He added as he flicked his wrist. The motion was so tiny that she never imagined the entire length of the weapon would slide forward. He timed it perfectly, catching her between the thorny edges and tripping her up. She fell forward, landing hard on her arm and winding herself.

The next thing she knew, he had a blade, obviously derived from some kind of nearby plant, pressed against her throat. "This is not even a fraction of the power and skill you will face."

He sighed as he rose, the weapon withering in his hand, "I don't think you're ready for this."

"Suichi…I don't want to be left behind…"

He captured her suddenly in his arms, "I know that if we leave without you that you'll follow."

She didn't bother trying to deny the allegation.

"So all that I can do is train you."

"I won't disappoint you." She told him.

"I'm not worried about being disappointed, Lynn. I'm worried about losing you."

"How long do we have left? Ten months?"

He nodded.

"Then we'll train every day after school and all day on weekends and over the break."

"It will be hard." He warned her, hoping to dissuade her.

"I don't care!" She replied fiercely, "I'm going."

His arms fell away from her as he revealed the rose in his hand. "Then let us continue."


	20. Chapter 20

_**Chapter Twenty: Unusual **_

Sometimes, late at night, she would creep from the arms of her husband and out of her bed and into the hallway. She would open the closet there and pull a small, worn wooden box from the top shelf and open it on the kitchen table and stare at the assortment of items in it.

Lynn often saw things in an unusual way, even by shinobi standards; but she had the benefit of the experiences of a long and varied career, both inside and outside of Konoha's military and even its borders. She had a hard-to-come-by kind of perspective. That was why, she knew, the objects in the box probably wouldn't make sense to anyone else, even another shinobi.

The first object she lifted from it was a folded leather pouch that opened up to reveal individually holstered senbon. She hadn't had much of a chance to use her medical skills after becoming an ANBU; her teammates were rarely injured and, of course, their targets were slated for death. Occasionally, though, she would get to use her talents in the field.

Sometimes, her teammates would come to her with sore muscles and blocked chakra pathways and she would slip those chakra-charged senbon into tired joints and inflamed tenketsu. She loved feeling the chakra start to move again and the muscles uncoil. It was a little bit of happiness in her unhappy world.

As she set it aside, she reached in with her free hand and pulled a battered string of beads from the box; the string was frayed in some places and broken in others, the beads held with creatively tied knots in between. They were cheap quartz pink beads and faux moonstones; to anyone else, it would have looked tacky. To her, though, it was beautiful.

Sakura had made it for her when she was just a kid; she had paid for it with her own meager allowance, strung them herself, and given it to Lynn as a graduation present. As it got older and more delicate, she started carrying it in the bottom of her holsters. It went on all her missions with her…a reminder of her sister…It always gave her the reason she needed to come home.

She rolled it between her thumb and forefinger once before she set it down on top of the leather pouch. Her left hand dipped back into the box and withdrew a tatter of black and red fabric. It was part of Itachi's robe…Deidara had given her the scrap right before he took care of the Uchiha's body. Much like Sakura's bracelet, that piece of ragged fabric went everywhere with her.

She folded it neatly and put it to the side and felt very carefully at the bottom of the box. Her fingers slid lightly over the sharp edge of a shard of porcelain. It was an irregular triangle with just a smear of purple along the shortest side.

Her first ANBU mask…

It had been shattered on her third mission; she had been too slow in a dodge, and the mask was all that prevented her cheekbone from shattering. It had been a harsh reminder that her life was suddenly much more dangerous.

A shiver ran down her spine as she tucked the shard away in the scrap of cloth and dug a bit deeper into the box; when she withdrew her hand, she held a bent copper key.

It was useless, and had been for a while. After all, the compound it led to had been burned down some time ago…

She sighed as she tilted her head back to look up at the ceiling, as if she could discern some kind of truth from it. There was, of course, only the echoing silence in her mind and the unpleasant hollowness of her chest.

'No point in dwelling in the past…' She told herself as she eyed it.

She did admit to herself, though, that she missed the quiet sanctity of the Uchiha compound. She and Itachi used to sneak down underneath it all the time…

She shook her head and willed the bad memories to go away as she picked up the last item in the box: a badly cracked mirror.

After all the time that had passed, she wasn't even really sure why she kept it…except for the faintly disturbing idea that the only reason she had hung onto it was because it resembled her…

It had once been a whole piece and now it was cracked, barely held together by willpower and luck more than anything else…

At the same time, she couldn't help but admire its beauty. The cracks and dents added depth, and the way the light played off of them threw tiny rainbow prisms into the air around her. She couldn't help but feel that the damage told more of a story than anything else…the fact that the poor piece had survived at all, let alone functionally, was reassuring…

Smiling, Lynn tucked the small trinkets away lovingly, closed the top of the box, latched the lock, and put it away. She would, she knew, pull it out again soon and inspect them again. After all, she never knew when she's find something new, hidden in what seemed like trash.


	21. Chapter 21

_**Chapter Twenty-One: Loved**_

Throughout her life, her many facets and reincarnations, Lynn learned that she could count on one thing: the love of those around her. Just when she thought that her life wasn't worth living or that the small pockets of happiness she had created were threatening to evaporate, someone would come through, extend their hand, and pull her to her feet.

There were so many times when she had been tempted to take the kunai to her own throat, or to simply lie down and never get up again. So many times when giving up would have been so simple, so easy…so many times when she wanted it…death…so badly…

She also had the good fortune in her life to experience the full spectrum of love. Everything from the fucked up Stockholm Syndrome she shared with Orochimaru in the dark recesses of Oto all the way down to the sisterly bond that kept her and Sakura close despite the resentment and anger that had existed between them.

Looking back on her life, and ahead to the things that were only starting to coalesce in the landscape of her future, she couldn't help but remember a few of those times…

_Her fingers were buried deeply in her sweaty hair, her frustration plastered across her face. At her knees, where she knelt, was the complicated seal of Isis. Just drawing it had been such an ordeal, she wasn't sure she had the effort left to attempt to summon her spirit _ka_…_

_ She had known that becoming the wife of the High Priest would put her in a stressful position…she was the conduit between the mortal coil and the Field of Reeds…the sanctity and purity of the souls of the departed rested in her hands…_

_ The task was so large, so overwhelmingly huge, that she was tempted to simply wipe the floor clean, remove the headdress and return to the quiet of her tiny village. _

_ "Omorose." It was a statement, and she turned her head over her shoulder to meet the speaker. _

_ "Seto…" _

_ "The priest tells me you are doing well." He said. _

_ She snorted to herself, "Not particularly. I haven't even tried a summoning, yet." _

_ "I'm sure you'll manage it." _

_ She felt tears bead at the corners of her eyes as her lips turned up; Seto could be a harsh man, yes, but he had faith in her…She couldn't let him down, and more importantly, she couldn't let herself down by quitting. _

_ "I'll be home later, Seto." She said, rising only long enough to plant a kiss on his cheek before she knelt at the rune again. _

There were more current ones, of course, she thought to herself as the memory led inevitably down the path behind her…

_"I don't expect forgiveness," Lynn began, her mouth suddenly dry, "The way I treated you and the Old Ma—" _

_ The glare that Yami shot her told her immediately she had crossed a line. She couldn't blame him; Solomon and Yugi and he had taken her in and she repaid them by with not only a somewhat tawdry affair with Seto Kaiba, but by abandoning their friendship and generosity entirely. _

_ "And Solomon," She continued, "Was wrong." _

_ He didn't move, but the flicker of emotion in his eyes told her everything she needed to know. _

_ "I'm sorry." She said. _

_ "I'm not the only one that you owe that to." He said. _

_ She nodded, her eyes hitting the floor, as she heaved a heavy sigh. "I know." _

_ She heard the chair slide across the wooden floor, and a moment later she felt his hand on her shoulder. _

_ "I forgive you, Lynn." He said simply, hesitating for a moment before he stepped from the room. _

Even her enemies, she realized, had only helped her along her path. Whether they hated to love her or didn't know the difference between the two, they had been there with her, as well…

_"What the fuck do you want from me?" She screamed, throwing her arms out at her sides in desperate frustration. _

_ "Your best." He replied simply, his eerily long tongue gliding over his pale lips. _

_ As much as she wanted to hate him in that moment, she couldn't…he didn't want anything for her that she didn't want for herself already…_

Even the shadows that surrounded her at that moment were whispering their own version of love at her…

_"You aren't going to help her, Thief King?" The hooded duelist asked. _

_ Inadvertently, her eyes shot to the white-haired man in question. For a moment, it looked like he might actually step up…but then he threw his head back and laughed maniacally. The sound was cut short as his eyes narrowed and settled on her opponent, "You presume she needs help." _

_ Her hazel eyes met with his brown eyes for a fraction of a second before his head dipped in a nod…and, suddenly…she knew she could do it…_

There were also more distant memories…ones that she didn't often think about…

_She had known almost a full second before the blast that there was no feasible way for her to avoid the concussive impact. All she could do was cross her arms over her chest and not fight the shockwave as it carried her over the edge of the battered cliff. _

_ And suddenly she was falling…weightless and helpless and doomed as gravity gripped her hard in a tight embrace and pulled her towards the ground. She was so certain of her own death in that moment that when Deidara's arms closed around her, she thought it was the Reaper, come to take her…_

_ She jolted suddenly as she settled against him and he smiled at her and said, "Rest, Lynn," before he turned his blue eye up at the enemy. His mouth settled into a grim line even as his hand closed around hers. _

_ She woke up some hours later back in the compound, with his head resting on the edge of her bed. _

And before Deidara there was Itachi, of course..

_At first, she was sure her eyes were lying to her…after all, the mist was so heavy and thick…and he had been gone for so long…that it didn't seem possible, even in her wildest dreams, that he would return to her…_

_ But as he cut a clean line through the mist, she couldn't deny the reality that he _was _there…alive and breathing, and almost as shocked as she was. _

_ His name tore from her lips as she forced herself to her feet and charged him. It was a stupid thing to do, and she fully expected him to impale her in self-defense…but when his arms closed around her waist and they toppled hard to the ground, her world exploded in joy. _

_ She buried her head against the crook of his neck and wept. She whispered his name over and over again until he said hers and she knew that it was no dream…that he was real and beautifully alive and hers…_

She was tired now, staring up at the ceiling with her eyes barely open, but she couldn't help but think of one more…

_She fell to her knees…she just couldn't help it. Even begging at this point was less shameful than what she had done. _

_ "I'm so sorry, Sakura." She said, her words muffled by the ground and the salty tears running from her tightly closed eyes. "I left you…I abandoned you and then I…I thought you would take me back. I was so stupid—" _

_ A shadow passed close to her and she opened her eyes and sat up and found herself face to face with her sister, who was smiling and kneeling beside her. _

_ "I am taking you back." She told her. _

_ "What?" She couldn't believe it, "But…why? After everything that I did to you…" _

_ "Because," Sakura said simply, "I love you, Lynn." _


End file.
